I smile indulgently, knowing there’s no way in hell I would ever sell this woman anything. I care about my horses too much to ever do that to them.


    “Well, they’re out grazing right now, but we can see them from the fence over here.”


    She follows me too closely, and when we’re at the fence, I take a small step back, putting more space between us. Right as I see E emerge from the path with Henry by her side, Christine makes some dumbment that I’m barely listening to and reaches out to grab my bicep while letting out augh that’s so aggressively annoying it makes my balls shrivel up.


    I notice that E is twirling the daisy I left for her in her hand, and I also notice the way her body stiffens at the sight of Christine and the offending arm which is still clinging to me. I can’t take my eyes off E. She’s wearing the cowboy boots again, and today it’s a green sundress, and I can see tiny ck strings reaching up around her neck where she’s tied it in a loose bow.


    Oh, sweet Jesus, please don’t let that be a string bikini under her dress! I’m not strong enough to resist that!


    An image of her doing her chores in nothing but a flimsy bikini has my balls quickly unshrinking. Noticing my gaze, Christine turns her head and gives E, who’s only about 15 feet away now, a cold appraising look.


    “Who’s that?” she asks, and there’s no mistaking the predatory tone.


    “It’s just my neighbor’s kid,” I say, and the hurt look that shes over E’s face at my words is like a punch to the gut.N?velDrama.Org holds ? this.


    My words appease Christine, though, and she turns back to me with a smile. Finally letting go of my arm, she looks back over the horse pasture as Ees up to stand on the other side of me, keeping a distance of several feet, I notice. I also take note of the fact that Henry sits on the other side of E’s legs, staying as far away from Christine as he can get. I can’t say I me him.


    When Pierre gets a whiff of E, hees walking over to her, giving a gentle whinny and shake of his head. She smiles and steps onto the bottom t of the wooden fence so she can reach over and hand him the carrot she’s brought. I try not to let my eyes linger on the way her ass is sticking out as she bends over. Memories from this morning’s masturbation session flit through my mind, but the sound of Christine’s annoying voice quickly put an end to the hard-on I was working on.


    “Should she just be feeding him without your permission?”


    “She has my permission,” I say, forcing my words to sound pleasant.


    She makes an annoyed sound and adds, “He’s a good-looking horse. Maybe I’ll buy him.”


    I see E’s hand freeze on Pierre’s neck as her whole body stiffens at Christine’s words.


    “I’m afraid he’s not for sale.”


    Christine gives me a cold look. She hooks one of her ridiculous nails around a strand of blond hair and carefully tucks it behind her shoulder.


    “I see. Are any of these horses for sale?”


    I meet her heavily made-up eyes. “Not at the moment, no.”


    She purses her lips together, making her look as if she’s just sucked on a lemon and puts her designer sunsses back on.


    “Call me when something’s avable, Beau,” she says before lifting her chin in the air and marching back to her enormous SUV.


    “Will do!” I holler at her with a grin on my face.


    I turn back to E, noticing that she doesn’t look up to meet my eyes.


    “I’m sorry about what I said,” I finally say, breaking the silence.


    She turns her blue eyes on me, making it hard for me to focus.


    “About me just being the neighbor’s kid, you mean?”


    “I did that on purpose. Trust me, staying off Christine’s radar is a good thing, and I didn’t want you anywhere near it.”


    “She did seem pretty unpleasant,” E admits, stroking Pierre’s muzzle.


    “Did you used to date her or something?”


    I let out a harshugh. “God, no.”


    I notice the relieved look that shes across E’s face even though she tries to hide it.


    “Come on, time to clean out the horse troughs.”


    She falls in step beside me. “I’m sorry I forgot to give you back your boots yesterday before I left.”


    “They’re yours now,” I say with a grin. “You earned ’em.” She smiles and tucks the daisy behind her ear.


    We spend the morning cleaning and refilling horse troughs, and I continue to be impressed by how hard of a worker she is. She neverins,ughs when she gets dirt on herself, and genuinely seems to love the animals who have all be as attached to her as I’m beginning to be. By the time lunch rolls around, I’ve worked up an appetite for way more than food.


    “I’m gonna grab us a couple of sandwiches from the little diner down the street. Do you like shrimp po’ boys?”


    “Yes. I’d love one, thanks.” She shes me a grin and gets back to measuring out the hay like I taught her to.


    “I’ll be right back.”


    I give her a wave, throw my t-shirt back on, and hop in my truck. I’ve gotten food from Louie’s Diner for as long as I can remember. I don’t often take the time to cook for myself, and their food is so damn good it’s hard to pass up.


    I say my hellos to Louie and his wife and ignore their surprised looks when I order two lunch specials instead of the usual one. They don’t ask who the other one’s for, but I can tell they want to. I know news of this will be spread throughout the area by suppertime. Perks of living in a small country town.


    When it’s ready, I thank them and leave, sipping on one of therge, sweet teas. Back at the house, I search for E in the barn, but there’s just Henry sitting there staring at me. I toss my t-shirt off because it’s just too fucking hot today and keep looking. Walking back out, I see a note pinned to the door of the tack room.


    Beau,


    I finished up with the hay and decided to take a quick walk. Wasn’t sure if Henry coulde, so I told him to stay.


    Be back soon,


    E ??